Bob Myers talks Jarrett Jack trade and what’s next for Warriors

The Warriors acquired experienced guard Jarrett Jack from the New Orleans Hornets as part of a three-team trade Wednesday. As part of the deal, the Warriors sent forward Dorell Wright to the Philadelphia, which also received center Darryl Watkins from New Orleans, and New Orleans received the draft rights to forward Edin Bavcic from Philadelphia.

Here’s a look at the conference call with Bob Myers:

Opening comments: “For those of you who were on the call Tuesday, there was no espionage or misdirection. We did not have this deal in place. It all came to fruition in the early hours Wednesday, and our group did a lot of work to process it, do our homework and research it. It came together very quickly. Through a lot of hard work and constant phone calls back and forth with both teams, we’re happy with the result. We feel like we added a great player. I just spoke to Jarrett. I knew him when I was an agent for Brandon Roy. I’d go up to Portland to see Brandon, and I’d always see Jarrett. He’s one of the most pleasant guys I ever came across. He’s one of the guys I wish I had the opportunity to represent. He’s a classy guy and a leader in the locker room with high character. He’s a great human being, a great player and a guy who is respected throughout the league. … We feel like we solidified our backcourt with a solid veteran who is multi-talented, can run a team, can score, can guard and is a good rebounder at his position. He’s coming off his best season in the NBA. We feel like we got a starter-caliber player who will improve our depth.”

Can Jack play shooting guard alongside point guard Stephen Curry? “In the playoffs, he played alongside Chris Paul a couple years ago, and it was a pretty effective lineup. I think we’ll experiment with what works best, but he gives us that option, because he can defend shooting guards. He can get into the paint, and he’s tough. He adds another whole element to our backcourt, and I think he’s a great complement to both Curry and Klay Thompson.”

What does this mean for Charles Jenkins? “We have plans for him. We feel like we’re going to utilize him. With Jarrett’s ability to be a combo guard, there will be opportunities for Charles to play point guard, which is his natural position. We’re still very high on Charles.”

How did New Orleans get into the fold and make this a three-team trade (the trade was originally a two-team with Philadelphia)? “New Orleans knew that we had interest in Jarrett Jack. It had been ongoing for a while, but we didn’t see the right opportunity. When they saw the deal with Philly, they wanted to be part of it. Our motivation was to get a player, and we’re much happier with what is place today than we were yesterday. Yesterday it was about flexibility. Today our team got better, which is what we’re trying to do.”

Were there other suitors, like New Orleans, who tried to get in on this deal? “There are always options that develop when teams get wind of a potential deal. Ninety-five percent of the time, the talks never gain any traction. This one did. When this presented itself, it was clear that it made a lot of sense for us.”

So you think Jack has more of chance to help you than Edin Bavcic? “Yes. If I’m wrong on that one, ‘wow.’ It’s hard to get players in this league who moves the needle, and we think we got one in Jarrett Jack.”

Do you still have enough money to use the full mid-level exception (about $5 million)? “We take on $1.3 million in this deal, but it doesn’t change our motivation to improve the team through free agency. We’re certainly still going to be aggressive in our pursuits. Going into free agency, we felt as though we needed to address the depth of our backcourt and our frontcourt. With this trade, we took on a high-level player and addressed our needs in the backcourt. Now we can be a little more selective when we address our frontcourt and not feel like we have to rush out and go grab the first thing we can.”

Is the next significant piece of need a backup power forward? “Yes. That’s our focus.”

J.J. Hickson is signing with Portland. Are you confident that there is still a power forward on the market who can help you? “Yes. I’m not going to get into specific names, but we feel like we can address that position. I think we’ll find someone who can help us there. We’re hoping we can get another quality player at that position.”

Could you just call it an offseason and go into the season with this roster? “We could, but I don’t think we will. I think we’re going to add a player. We’re still relatively young. We’d like to be competitive in the West, which is no easy task. If we can bolster the roster at the power forward spot, we’re going to do it. I would say ‘It’s more likely that we would add another player than we don’t add a player.’ We’re certainly going to explore everything. I told my wife that we addressed one need, and she said, ‘Are you done now?’ I said, ‘No, no we’re not.’ She’s about to have a baby in the next two weeks, and I’d like to be done by then.”

What’s the timetable on re-signing Brandon Rush? “It could be tonight. It’s always been in line. Just because this trade happened before Brandon, it doesn’t mean it was ahead of Brandon. It just presented itself in a timeframe that happened to be ahead of Brandon. Our goals were to re-sign Brandon Rush, add backcourt help and add frontcourt help. We’re still focused on keeping Brandon, and all we did tonight was check one of the boxes. There are still two to go.”

Will Rush receive an offer that you match, or will you negotiate on your own with him? “Our goal is to re-sign him, in whatever manner that takes. I can’t portend to tell you how restricted free agency will turn out. Our goal is to keep him with a contract his representation is OK with and our ownership is OK with. I’m fairly confident that we’ll achieve that.”

Do you need to get Rush locked up before you know your power forward price range? “You have to project certain budgets. If we are making an offer in free agency, we’re certainly going to do that while keeping Brandon in mind. I don’t know the specific dollars, but it’s a balancing act to know what to spend in free agency while trying to keep a restricted free agent. Every team has to go through that exercise in free agency.”

Does this mean Nate Robinson and Dominic McGuire won’t be back? “No. We thought they did a great job for us. They continue to be players we’re keeping an eye on. Depending on how things shake out, they may or may not be back. I can’t really answer it, because it falls into a level of uncertainty. I would tell you unequivocally that we think both of those players are good NBA players and certainly helped us compete last year, were good players, good teammates and good in the locker room. I could see scenarios where they’re back, but it’s hard to be definitive because you just don’t know.”